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Guardian
The Guardians were an alien race whose ruins were first discovered in the Synuefe XR-H D11-102 system on October 27, 3302 by CMDR XDeath. Engineer Ram Tah subsequently requested data scanned from the ruins for further study, and on January 10, 3303, he began providing a decryption program for the data to all Commanders who docked at a station in the Meene system. The decrypted data from the ruins provided significant insights into the history and culture of the Guardians. History The Guardians evolved as intelligent pack hunters that eventually organized themselves into clans. Technological development varied between each clan, creating inequality and conflict. Conflicts were initially resolved through personal combat between individual clan champions, but the clans later started using numbers to overwhelm their opponents, which gave rise to conventional warfare. Weapons development accelerated accordingly, and biological weapons became the Guardians' weapons of choice, leading to an arms race focused on making new biological agents and countermeasures. Computers were developed and commonly used by Guardians for generations, and later linked together by an interstellar communication and computing system called the monolith network. Combined with the later innovations of artificial intelligence and neural implants, the monolith network became the heart of the Guardians' society and triggered an "age of information". Biology Procreation was a matter of personal choice in Guardian society, but all Guardians were required to become a parent at least once in their lives in order to ensure the continuation of their genetic line. The gestation period for Guardians was lengthy to allow substantial development of the young prior to birth, and infants were effectively helpless for a period after delivery. Language The Guardians' written language consisted of glyphs that evolved from a form of sign language that the Guardians developed while hunting to communicate stealthily. It is believed the Guardians spoke with accents as there are regional variations in the sounds of their words. Technology The Guardians had the capacity for sophisticated flight technology, but also possessed an ecologically-conscious philosophy that precluded widespread usage of technologies they viewed as damaging for the environment. This led the Guardians to rely on less-advanced machines such as dirigibles, and refrain from pursuing the manufacture of rockets, which had been deemed harmful. When the Guardians first attempted space travel, they instead used large electromagnetic launchers to catapult ships into space. Pilots and passengers rode in breathable gel cocoons that helped them withstand the extreme G-forces experienced at launch, and doubled as hibernation pods during long journeys. Before they developed faster-than-light technology, the Guardians constructed three large arks for their first interstellar colonies, similar to the generation ships employed by humans. The monolith network that the Guardians later created for interstellar communications was used for practically all of their society's communication, regardless of importance. The network was designed with very few restrictions, in keeping with the Guardians' predilection for sharing knowledge. There was no evidence that separate networks were used for military of administrative communication, as humans developed. This meant Guardian society was extremely open, but this made it significantly more vulnerable when social divisions arose. See Also *Ancient Ruins Category:Alien life Category:Lore